Accented Characters in Tags: iTunes vs FLAC, etc.

[qblack]

(11-04-2015 10:50)simoncn Wrote:  

(11-04-2015 10:38)qblack Wrote:  My FLAC tags are initially created with the ripping software XLD. I've tried re-tagging with Yate but the result seems the same. I've also tried the metaflac command-line tool to create the COMPOSER tag, with the same result. Maybe the problem has its origins in the distributed FLAC libraries?

Did you put the composer value on the metaflac command line? If so, how did you type the accented characters? Were you running metaflac on a Mac?

Yes, I'm on a Mac.

I think I've found the source of the problem: the way the Finder handles certain text in the Clipboard.

What I've been doing for some time (and this was to ensure consistency) is to press Cmd-C (copy) on a folder in the Finder which corresponds to the required Composer. It's there from discs already ripped. I then paste into the tag field (either in XLD, Yate or my own Applescript). In each case, the pasted name looks correct.

I have tested this now and see that it is only the above method that generates the 'combination' accent forms you describe above. I can make iTunes generate the same form in its m4a files by pasting a "folder" from the Finder with the appropriate diacritics in its name into a tag field.

I can avoid the problem by inserting the desired characters into a field the long way by using the Character Viewer or (in the case of simple accents) using the Mac's press-and-hold method.

The reason we've been looking at Dvořák is because the ř is more finicky to insert via the Character Viewer, so I was copying and pasting from the Finder. But this shortcut made an invisible change to the name.

Thanks for pointing me in the right direction and showing me that I was, indeed, "doing something wrong"!

Quentin

PS Minimserver rocks!